Brian Dixon

The violence prevention project: The development and evaluation of a treatment programme for violent offenders

Abstract In 1987 the Violence Prevention Project began the development and implementation of a community-based programme for Maaori and European violent offenders, based in Hamilton, New Zealand. This paper outlines the programmes development over its first three years. We describe the programme content, its staffing and management, and the processes used to train staff and provide programme integrity. Following this we present an evaluation of programme outcome. Evaluation methodology is outlined and data are presented both on intermediate psychometric measures of participant change and reconviction for the first stage of long-term follow-up. Finally, we discuss some of the implications of our findings for rehabilitation programmes with this group of offenders, and argue that, with the trend of escalating incarceration for violent offenders, initiatives of this kind are an important part of Corrections policy.

Beyond the looking glass: Fooling the brain with the augmented mirror box

Video mediated and augmented reality technologies can challenge our sense of what we perceive and believe to be real. Applied appropriately, the technology presents new opportunities for understanding and treating a range of human functional impairments as well as studying the underling psychological bases of these phenomena. This paper describes our augmented mirror box (AMB) technology which builds on the potential of optical mirror boxes by adding functions that can be applied in therapeutic and scientific settings. Here we test hypotheses about limb presence and perception, belief, and pain using laboratory studies to demonstrate proof of concept. The results of these studies provide evidence that the AMB can be used to manipulate beliefs and perceptions and alter the reported experience of pain. We conclude that the system has potential for use in experimental and in clinical settings.

Collaborative Mixed Reality Exposure Therapy

In addition to established methods, the treatment of mental disorders using virtual reality exposure therapy is becoming commonplace. We present an approach, which extends this concept in three ways: (1) the provision of maximum control for the therapist over the exposure environment, (2) the inclusion of different media and mediation elements in the virtuality continuum in mixed reality, and (3) support for co-located and remote collaboration between therapist and client. This paper gives a brief overview of related work in the field, describes our conceptual approach and a first implementation, and highlights initial findings and issues. Empirical results of our work in progress will be presented at the conference

The Ethics of Allowing Participants to Be Named in Critical Research with Indigenous Peoples in Colonised Settings: Examples from Health Research with Māori

In this chapter we compare two projects with Māori participants that highlight ethical issues related to offering indigenous participants the opportunity to be named in research outputs. In the first project, children taking part in a photo-elicitation study all agreed to be named following an ongoing process of confirmation. In the second project, we decided not to offer men with a history of criminal offending the opportunity to be named because of the potential for future harm to the men and past victims. Using these two examples and existing indigenous scholarship, we discuss issues for researchers, indigenous community members, and ethics committees to bear in mind when considering whether it is appropriate to offer indigenous participants the opportunity to be named in a particular study.

Sex offender treatment services in Australia and New Zealand: Programme features and issues for community‐based treatment

The authors observations during a study tour of several Australian states in 1994 and experience within the New Zealand criminal justice system provide the material for an overview of sexual abuser treatment services. A number of examples of prison and community‐based programmes in both countries are described and common features are identified. Several emergent issues are discussed, including models and approaches employed, resourcing of programmes, group composition, and the integration of treatment services into criminal justice systems. Conclusions regarding the development of treatment services address the need for increased attention to community‐based programmes and the importance of research into the effectiveness of such interventions.